Angola

Fight against famine, poverty are government priorities – Minister

Luanda, 18 March 2009 - Angolan Agriculture minister, Afonso Pedro Canga, said Tuesday, March 17 in Luanda, that the fight against famine and the reduction of poverty constitute a Government’s absolute priority.

The minister was speaking during a seminar on national strategy on food and nutritional security for 2009/2013 (ENSAN).The Government official said programmes and projects are being implemented in order to achieve this goal, foreseeing the increase of food production, creation of jobs, improvement and increase of basic social services.

Mr. Canga assured that Government policies and programmes are adjusted to the Millennium Development Goals, the Rome Declaration, the 1996 World Food Summit Action Plan and to other international instruments on the matter, adopted by Angola.

The Minister recalled the first target of the Millennium Goals, set at the 2000 UN Summit, is to reduce by half the number of people that starve worldwide until 2015. According to him, a rise has been noted in the prices of basic food since the end of 2006 and beginning of 2008, which has seriously worsened the situation of famine and malnutrition, confronting one billion people around the world.

In terms of data, "the crisis as a result of the rise in basic foodstuffs prices represents a delay of at least seven years in the fight against poverty, hence the need for urgent and effective solutions”, the minister said. Mr. Canga considered the food strategy as an instrument of action for the pursuit of the commitments taken and one of the landmarks for government and its partners actions towards the eradication of famine and reduction of poverty, and a fundamental right to human life.